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Church Closures in the UK

More than 260 churches belonging to the Church of England have ceased to be used for regular worship in the past decade, according to new figures.

The figures, released by the Government in response to a Parliamentary question, show that 29 Anglican churches closed last year, the highest figure since 2004.

Earlier this year, this newspaper disclosed that churches of all denominations were closing at a rate of two a week.

The number of churches is forecast to fall from 48,500 now to 39,200 by 2030. Church leaders have warned that the crisis threatens to devastate parishes and deprive communities of important focal points.

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One Comment on “Church Closures in the UK”

Shocked? Consider what kinds of churches most of them are: tiny outposts which have been kept going by subsidies from other Anglican churches – that means from my pocket! – in order to maintain an outward show of having services, rarely with any attempt to do anything else except perhaps take funerals. Most of these churches have long been dead, and their death needs to be officially recognised.

Of course it would be a different matter if there was anyone able and willing to bring these churches back to life. But that would be an uphill task even for the most committed because these churches are typically handicapped by ancient buildings with no modern facilities and quite unsuited to the work of Christ today. Better to close the old churches and then consider planting new and appropriate ones.

By the way, how many new Church of England churches opened in the last decade?

The figure of 29 churches closed last year is not statistically significantly greater than the long term average of 26 per year.

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